How to become a roller coaster enthusiast
So, you want to be a roller coaster enthusiast? Well, you’ve come to the right place. As enthusiasts ourselves, we’ve put together a short guide to becoming an enthusiast, including tips from our community of followers.
Before we get started with the tips it’s important that we all remember that becoming an enthusiast is something that usually happens naturally. If you have a keen interest in theme parks, rides or coasters, you’re an enthusiast! All you need is a passion for coasters and an interest in finding out more about them. It’s not about how much you know or what your opinions are. You don’t need to know everything or memorise facts to be an enthusiast!
This ‘how to’ guide is just that - a guide. It’s aim is to give those of you wanting to venture further into the world of coaster enthusiasm some direction and top tips. You might even find it interesting if you’ve considered yourself an enthusiast for a while now. We collected lots of tips from our Coaster Bot community to include in this guide and also spoke on the topic in detail on our podcast.
*Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links (those marked with a star). If you go through them to make a purchase we will earn a commission. We have linked these products based on their quality and our own opinions of them.
Get started with some research
So you’re interested in roller coasters. Great! The next logical step is to start finding some content about coasters that will help you learn more about them and fuel your passion for them. There are lots of options, depending on what type of content you enjoy the most. But one website we would recommend to every budding enthusiast is RCDB. It’s basically like a roller coaster bible. There you’ll find everything you need to know about every single coaster.
If you prefer flipping through a book, we’d recommend Coasters 101* which is great for learning more about how roller coasters work. It covers both the basics and also more advanced topics, so it’s the perfect all-round book. Another interesting read is John Wardley’s book, Creating my own Nemesis*, the man behind some of the UK’s most iconic and beloved coasters. But if you’re more into the ins and outs of designing a roller coaster, you should check out How to Design the World's Best Roller Coaster: In 10 Simple Steps*.
For those who prefer sticking on a YouTube video, there are loads of channels out there with theme park content which will help you learn more about roller coasters. You could try theme park vlogs if you want to explore the parks as if you’re really there. Check out some of our vlogs or search for ‘theme park vloggers’ on YouTube - there are loads! You could also try some more factual videos to brush up on some knowledge or funnier videos for a laugh. We love Screwy Loops in particular for hilarious theme park videos!
If you’re looking for alternative forms of coaster content, why not try podcasts? There are so many out there at the moment - you have hours of episodes waiting for you! Some of the longest-running podcasts are great, like Coaster Radio and the Season Pass Podcast, but there are also lots of new ones to discover. We’ve been podcasting for a few years now and really love sitting down for a chat every week and hearing all of your thoughts on the topics. Check out our podcast, Coaster Bot Rambles.
Connect with other enthsiasts
One of the most rewarding things about being an enthusiast is the friends you make along the way. The internet makes it very easy for enthusiasts from all over the world to connect with each other, share stories and become friends. We’d really recommend reaching out to others, even if you’re a little nervous and it seems daunting. Find a medium of communication you feel comfortable and take the first step! Who knows - you might make some new best friends who you can share your passion for coasters with and visit theme parks together.
In terms of your options for connecting with other enthusiasts, you could try Instagram or Facebook groups where you’ll find communities of enthusiasts and content to engage with. Even the comments of YouTube videos is a good place to start. Try finding a video about a ride or park you’re interested in and get involved in the comments - you might even learn something new from the other comments!
Our favourite way to connect with others is on Discord. We have a Discord server where our community and friends chat about roller coasters and theme parks - it’s a great way to talk to other enthusiasts and make friends. You can join here! Once you join you’ll automatically be asked to introduce yourself with your favourite coaster, which is a nice way to ease into conversation with everyone, or you can just join in the chat if and when you’re ready!
Visit parks
This one might seem obvious, but theme parks themselves are a great place to start. Get down to your local theme park if you can and start riding coasters! You’ll learn a lot just from riding them. Plus, experiencing the sensations for yourself will help you better understand what other enthusiasts are talking about. Let’s face it - getting out to the parks is what we all want to be doing 24/7.
If you’ve never been on a roller coaster before and are worried or nervous about your first ride, you might find our blog post about how to get over a fear of roller coasters useful. There are lots of ways to make the process of overcoming your fear easier if you’re wanting to get out there and experience some rides!
Obviously there are loads of parks across the world that we’d love to get to but unfortunately that’s not always possible - even your home park might be a bit too far to travel to. That’s okay! Just because you can’t get to a park at the moment doesn’t make you any less of an enthusiast. Your passion for rides and parks is all you need, just focus on the other tips we’ve offered in this post for now!
Remember to have fun!
We hope these tips have inspired you and given you some direction in your journey into the world of coaster enthusiasm. We absolutely love being enthusiasts and connecting with others, so be sure to join our Discord server and have a chat with us! We can’t wait to meet you. If you need any other tips, our friends on the Discord server would be more than happy to help you out.
- Zoe
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